MultiVersushas been knocking it out of the park with its character release schedule. More so than any of its peers in the fighting genre, the game has been producingcharacters on a regular basis since it relaunched last May; there have been seven new characters in almost as many months. Each new addition to the roster has been a faithful and loving recreation of the character’s source material. And the latest addition to the game is no exception.
Marceline the Vampire Queen fromAdventure Timefame joined theMultiVersusroster this week as part of the Season 4 content updates. Like Raven before her, Marceline is a perfect adaptation of how she appeared in her classic Cartoon Network debut, and fans of the show will undoubtedly be pleased to see moreAdventure Timerepresentation in the game’s cast. But even for players who aren’t big fans of the original show, Marceline’s arrival in the game signifies a huge shift in the direction of the game that bodes extremely well for future fighters.
Marceline’s Kit is a Great Sign for Things to Come in MultiVersus
Marceline Might Be the Start of a Good Trend for MultiVersus
Marceline joins theMultiVersusrosterwith a host of moves that reference her most iconic moments from the show. She, of course, incorporates her guitar into her attacks, as well as a variety of stakes and vampiric transformations. She feels exactly how one would expect her to after binge-watching all the seasons ofAdventure Time, and that’s great news for the future of the game’s fighter design.
MultiVersusfighters are classified as four main class types: Bruisers, Tanks, Assassins, and Mages. Marceline is classified as a Bruiser in-game, but she controls with the quickness, agility, and deadliness one would expect her to have due to her character. It shows that the developers at Player First Games are more concerned with adapting characters faithfully than blindly being beholden to an arbitrary class system that might limit what a given character might be able to do.
Developers Are Focusing on Adapting the Fighters Accurately Rather Than Getting Tied Up On The Class System
These classes are good descriptors of how these characters eventually end up playing, withTanks like Jason being lumbering behemothsthat hit like trucks and Assassins like Stripe being nimble combo machines with glass jaws. And while these classes have worked very well so far into the games' lifespan, there was always a lingering potential for them to stifle the creativity of the design team when it comes to translating characters faithfully moving forward.
Some characters already suffer from the relative limitations of the class system. Superman is one such example. Thoughhis position in theMultiVersusmetahas shifted over time, the big blue boy scout has always been appropriately durable and is the third tankiest character in the game behind Iron Giant and Jason, respectively. But for a character who’s famously described as “faster than a speeding bullet,” Clark is pretty slow in-game. He hits as hard as one would expect from a guy who can go toe-to-toe with Darkseid, but his attacks come out so slowly that players need to be very smart and heavily utilize armor to get most of his combos off the ground.
Marceline’s kit is a promising sign that the devs are no longer handicapping their character designs based on the class system. She plays like something of ahybrid between a bruiser and an assassin, and true hybrid characters would bring so much to the game in terms of gameplay variety, but also when it comes to faithfully adapting certain characters. Not everyone can necessarily fit into just one of those prescribed classes, and Marceline shows that the developers are ready to embrace a larger, more nuanced view of how to create/design fighters moving forward.
MultiVersus
WHERE TO PLAY
CHARACTERS: Choose from Bugs Bunny, Batman, Arya Stark, Rick Sanchez, and many more. In MultiVersus, every star brings their unique moves, worlds and attitudes to fight. And as the roster expands, so does the spectacle — with new personalities and play styles turning up the heat in every battle.MAPS: Our maps turn legendary realms like the Batman’s Bat Cave, Jake and Finn’s Treefort, Game of Thrones’ Throne Room into epic battle grounds. And the best part? We’re adding new maps regularly, so the party never stops!MODES: Whether you’re seeking the intensity of 1v1, the frenzy of a 4-player mayhem, or team up for strategic 2v2 battles, we’ve got you covered. Plus, introducing an all new PvE mode, a thrilling realm of limitless combat possibilities designed for solo or co-op play.CROSS-PLATFORM: MultiVersus has full cross-play and cross-progression support across all platforms.
